About the origin of Sorrento the historian Diodoro Siculo, relating to a legend, asserted that the town was founded by Liparos, son of Ausone, who was the king of the Ausoni and son of Ulysses and of the witch Circe. According to this legend, the origin of the town dates back to an ancient Italic population, that of the Ausoni, which accounted for one of the most ancient ethnic groups. However the town in pre-Roman age was subjected to a certain influence on the part of the Greek culture, whose traces can be easily found in its urbanistic settlement, the remains of the Parsano Gate, Marina Grande Gate, let alone the presence at the headland of the peninsula called Punta Campanella, of the Athenaion. The big sanctuary, where the worshipping of Athens was celebrated, according to the legend, it was founded by Ulysses and in a first moment consecrated to the worship of the Sirens. All these elements could lead us to think of a Greek presence in the period between 474 and 420 b.C., when Sorrento was conquered by the Samniti. Following this Sorrento entered under the Roman's sphere of influence, against which it rebelled in the course of the social war when after joining the 'nucerina alliance' it was reconquered, together with Stabia, by Papius Multius in 90 b.C. and then the following year it was reduced once again to a state of submission by Silla. After the peace Silla sent a colony of veterans there. The Sorrentine peninsula boasts a secular tradition in the art of marquetry. From the first half of 800, talented Sorrentine artisans were the first to acquire such technique, which spread extensively all over the Neapolitan territory. Thanks to the fame which Sorrento enjoyed as a holiday resort, many important people from the world of politics and international culture fame, had the opportunity to appreciate the skill of our master cabinet-makers, enough to be engaged by Francesco I of Bourbon for the restoration of furniture in the Royal Palace In the lanes of the old city centre, still untouched in spite of the progress and mass tourism, have survived churches and ancient monasteries, keepers of valuable memories. Centuries old palaces and Durazzo portals evidence the splendour of the noble families of Sorrento. Via S. Cesareo, the lively "decumanus", is the beating heart of the town, with its many-coloured shops, where tourists from every part of the world crowd. But the real architectonic jewel of the town is the fourteenth century Cloister of San Francesco, with crossed tuff arches of Arabian derivation, where the traditional concerts of the "Estate Musicale Sorrentina" take place.